turner



(No Muel.) Y

. y 4R. H. TURNER.

TRUCK PLATFORM FOR HANDLING HEAVY ARTIGLES.

N50. 559,55,?. ffl-yz Pcantedmy 5, 1896.

(E7/ l l l v I Inventarf UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD I-I. TURNER, or MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, AsSIeNoE 'ro- JoIIN s.

' KEARNEY, oF SAME PLACE.

TRucKfPLAI-FQRM Fon' HANDLING HI-:AvY ARTICLES.

SPECIFICATION ruiming pm cf Letters Patent No.1559,552, datedfmay 5, 189e.

Application filed January 18, 1895. Serial No. 5.35,(377. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that l, EDWARD H. TURNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new andl useful Improvements in Truck-Platforms vor other Supports for Handling Heavy Articles; and I de hereby declare the following. to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will' enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains; to make 'and use the same.

p My inventionhas Afor its object to provide an improved construction for handling heavy articles on drays, platforms," or other sup ports. I

To this end my invention comprises the novel devices Aand combination 0 devices Vhereinafter described,r and defined in the land 2, looking'toward the front, showing a` box as Supported by the non-rotary bearingsurfaces of the truck-body. Fig.|5 is a simi# lar view on the same line, but looking toward the rear, with one of the boxes shown as raised onto and sustained by the rotary bearing-surfaces of the truck body or support.

and 7 are details i'n plan view and end elevation, respectively, showing the devices `for` manipulating the rollers with the rollers assumed to be in their lowermost position. Figs.

8 and t) are similar views of the same parts' as they would appear when the'rollers are in their raised or uppermost position. is a detail, partly in section and partly in perspective, showingpthe relation ol the crankshaft and rollers to one of `the inside hangers for upholding the shaft. y 4

de a?, dsc., represent, I'espcetivcly,tl1caxlc wheels and other portions of the front part of the truck underneath the truck body or Figs. 6 I

platformc, and b b b2, &e., represent the rear axle, rear wheels, and other rear parts of the truck underneath the truck body or platform* c. The said running-gear parte of the truck or dray may be of the ordinary or other suitable construction. n

. The truck body or. platform is provided with' openings or passages c for rollers c2, which are mounted, as shown, on the'crankl portions of crank-shafts c3, 'which 'are journaled in theside bars of the truck-body and are further supported by hangers c", depending from the truck-body between the side bars and embracing the crankshaft. The crankshafts c3 project at one end beyond the side bar 'of the l.truck and are provided withhandlevers c5 for rocking the said shafts to throw Athe rollers c? from a `.point below to a point above the plane of the fac of thetruck-body through thepassages c.' Plates c", with camsurfaces c7 and notches es, are bolted to the side bar of the truck-body, so as to face the handlevers and the cranklshafts in position to' hold the rollers at their uppermostlevel. "75, The hand-levers c5 are intended to be'made of spring metal and to bear. against the in" clinedv cam-surfaces c7 when being turned into their uppermost position, so as to spring into the 1ocknotches es on reaching the same. As shown, the castings c areformed integral with theboxes c, which'form the bearing for the handle ends of the crank-shafts es.. .The

opposite ends of said crank-shafts e8V are journaled in ordinary bearings'c", bolted to the 85 side bar of the tiuekwbody o r platform.'` As shown, each crank-shaft cs is provided' with six rollers c2, which maywork through six corresponding passagers or openings. c in the truck bed or platform, and seven of the said 9o crank-shafts are shown as equally spaced apart in diilterent positionson the truck-body. A su fticient number of rollers `should be provided `for' each shaft toenable two or more articles to be supported' side' by side and to 95 be moved one without interference with the other. 'lo accomplish this,.it is necessary that atleast four rollers should be provided for each shaft, for, as is evident, lit will take one article.

With the foregoing construction it is obvi'- r ous that the face of the truck body or platform is always available as a non-rotary or plain bearing-surface for the boxes or packages or other heavy articles d, and that the rollers c2 on the crank-shafts c3 are always available as rotary bearing-surfaces for the said boxes,packages,or other articles. Hence the boxes may be either permitted to rest on the non-rotary bearing-surfaces of the truckbody, as shown in Fig. i, or be raised onto the rotary bearing-surfaces or rollers c2, as shown in Fig. The normal position of the said articles (Z would be on the non-rotary bearingsurfaces, as shown in Figi at, supposing' it be desired to have the box or article remain sta tionary on the truck body or platform-as, for example, when transporting the sameand the said articles would be raised into the position shown in Fig. 5 or onto the rollers c2 whenever it is desired to move the articles lengthwise of the truck body or platformas, for example, when loading or unloading the same. Otherwise stated, the roller-bearings are mounted so as to be adjustable through the normal and non-rotary bearing plane of the truck-body or other support, so as to be always available when desired for the purposes of shifting the articles.

The platform or body C is shown as mounted on wheels and running-gear for service as an ordinary dray or truck; but it will Abe understood, of course, that it might be a stationary platform for receiving or shipping goods, or

the iloor of a building, such as a wareroom, over which itis desired to move heavy articles.

The truck-body c has removable standards c,

What'l claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as fol.- lows:

l. The combination with a plane surface for the support of heavy articles, of crank-shafts underlying said support, formed each by a series of crank-sections (four or more) and a corresponding series of rollers mounted directly on said cranlesections, which by turning said shaft, are adjustable through the bearing-face of said support, whereby two or more articles may be supported, side by side, on said rollers and be moved without inter-v ference with each other, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the truck-body n having roller-passages c', of the crank-shafts ('3 having the rollers c2, the hand-levers c5 and the lock-segments c(i with eam-surfaces c7 and notches es, all arranged and operating substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD ll. TURNER. lVitnesses' J. S. IiARNEv, JAS. F. WILLIAMsoN. 

